With the advances in technology in recent years, many complex electronic devices have been designed and mass produced for comsumption by the public. Typically, the production of such an electronic device, such as a paging receiver, may include hundreds of components which require numerous assembly processes. In each assembly process, components must be correctly identified, aligned, and assembled either manually, by human operators, or, if suitable, by automated equipment. Additionally, some components, such as antennas, require precision alignment and assembly to meet electrical and mechanical requirements.
Some conventional paging receivers avoid possible antenna alignment problems by designing an antenna directly into a receiver board. Such an antenna may be etched into the printed circuit receiver board, making assembly operations unnecessary. In this manner, inaccuracies other than at the printed circuit board level are eliminated. Although the process of manufacturing such a device is readily implemented when the receiver board has available space for incorporation of a small antenna, this process is useless when applied to antennas which are too large to be included on the receiver board.
Conventionally, larger antennas for paging receivers are manufactured separately from the receiver board because of space considerations, i.e., the area of the receiver board is typically too small to accommodate the manufacture of a larger antenna directly on the board. These separately manufactured antennas must be designed, ordered, and stocked separately from other components, resulting in greater product cost and inefficient space utilization. Furthermore, use of a separate antenna increases the possibility of component identification and ordering errors.
If the design of a paging receiver dictates the use of a separate antenna, the antenna is typically pre-formed from a rigid conductive material, such as copper. The pre-formed antenna must then be plated with a solderable conductive material before it can be soldered to contacts on the receiver board. Because pre-formed antennas typically have large dimensional tolerances, the areas of the antenna which are to be soldered to the receiver board often, even with the aid of an alignment fixture, incorrectly contact the receiver board. In such a case, the antenna must be manually forced into alignment with the receiver board contacts, thereby contributing to further assembly errors and greater expenditure of time. If the process used to assemble the antenna to the receiver board is performed incorrectly, an operator may find it necessary to resolder the antenna or to simply dispose of the incorrect assembly. In either case, the result is wasted time and money, which is usually reflected in an increased product cost.
Thus, what is needed is a self-fixturing method for assembling an antenna/receiver combination.